Hayden Richau began his music career in church, where he directed and led a full orchestra and choir in addition to singing main vocals for 2 years. He then took to YouTube and other social media platforms where his popularity skyrocketed. Hayden now has over 13,000 Twitter followers, a 1,000-subscriber strong Instagram following, and a YouTube account with almost 1,000 subscribers.
Recently, Hayden went quiet on social media to focus on the release his first single, Sparrows Song, now available on all major music platforms. In addition to Hayden’s music achievements, he finds time to volunteer in nursing homes, work in other countries volunteering his time to help improve the lives of others, traveling the country spreading words of love and encouragement, and creating connections with business leaders throughout the U.S. and Canada in both the music and fashion industries.
Table of Contents
4:34 – If you had to describe yourself as a band, song, or genre, what would it be?
5:40 – How did you get started in the music business?
11:18 – Looking back at your career, what stands out to you as your proudest moment?
12:24 – What’s been one of your biggest failures, and what lessons did you learn from that moving forward?
16:40 – Four things artists should be doing today to grow their fan-base and move their careers forward
If you had to describe yourself as a band, song, or genre, what would it be?
I’m going to have to go with Fleetwood Mac, believe it or not. They have gone through hard times, and they have gone through successful times. They always kept it about the music, and always made it about giving music back to the world. They always had something that people could relate too, could enjoy, and jam out too. Fleetwood Mac would be the band that describes me the best.
How did you get started in the music business?
Believe it or not, I participated in a talent show back in elementary school and I sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The IZ version, with the ukelele and everything. I ended up winning the talent show in 4th grade. Ever since then, I’ve really enjoyed being in the spotlight. Being able to sing and have people enjoy listening to me. That is what kickstarted me into wanting to become a singer.
Looking back at your career, what stands out to you as your proudest moment?
That’s a tough question. My proudest over-all moment has been my single release, Sparrows Song. It may not seem like such a big milestone considering some of the other things that I’ve done. But it’s a proud moment when you actually see your name on iTunes, and Google Play, and Amazon MP3, you name it. It’s a magical moment.
What’s been one of your biggest failures, and what lessons did you learn from that moving forward?
I noticed through the years that I had been trying everything to get my name out there. That excluded social media, I’d been trying everything that came my way. I noticed that my biggest failure–and I know this sounds harsh–was trusting others that said they could help you.
I think that’s a good tip for anyone listening. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. I can’t tell you how many times someone that was super nice to me, I was friends with, said they had connections, and they are like: We’ll get back to you soon. You give them all of your time and energy, for them to not do anything with it. And they end up throwing you overboard, so to speak.
Four things artists should be doing today to grow their fan-base and move their careers forward:
- Artists need to get a Twitter account. I know to a lot of people Twitter just seems like something fan girls use to try and get their boy bands to like them, but that is just not the case. If there is one social media platform to use, I would say Twitter.
- Focus on growing your fan-base on a personal level. That means stepping away from social media and talking to people about who you are and what you like to do. When you are yourself, and when you can be an over-all nice person, you are bound to get a nice support group.
- Believe it or not, Facebook is a powerful tool. Artists shouldn’t underestimate it because there is nothing greater than Facebook likes. While Facebook is dying out among younger fans, it’s just now taking off for older fans. To take advantage of this, artists need to create a Facebook page, use pictures and posts that only lift up, obviously. Post things that represent you at your best. And make sure you invite your friends to like the page.
- Just get out there and do it. There is nothing worse than you sitting in your room right now, or listening to this podcast on your phone, and just being stagnant. You have to think of things in a different perspective. There are countless people out there in the music industry who we don’t even know about, who I don’t even know about, who are making 3-figure salaries, who are doing everything that they love. And they also have the best life in the world, because they are not in the spotlight. They can go to the grocery store and live and everyday life. But then they can live their dream job by going around performing on stage in front of thousands of people. Don’t underestimate yourself. Go out there and go after your dreams.
The best ways to reach Hayden:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Hayden
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/haydenrichau
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHaydenrichau
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/thinkthenbecome/
Outro Music:
HaydenRichau
Sparrows Song
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